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Grinnell, IA - [[{"fid":"5171","view_mode":"media_original","type":"media","attributes":{"height":242,"width":350,"style":"width: 350px; height: 242px; float: right;","alt":"hopkinsandfdr.jpg","class":"media-element file-media-original"}}]]Program in Public Affairs, International Relations, and Human Rights will host a lecture and panel discussion to celebrate Harry Hopkins '12, a Grinnell College graduate who, as one of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's closest advisers, helped architect the New Deal and served as head of the Works Progress Administration. The Grinnell lecture and panel are open to the public and all members of the Grinnell College community.

On Nov. 29 at 4:15 p.m. in Joe Rosenfield '25 Center, Room 101, Grinnell College alumni Doug Hess '91 and George McJimsey '58 will lead a panel discussion titled "The Bully Pulpit of the 'Other President': Hopkins' Defense of the New Deal." Doug Hess is a research and strategy consultant in Washington, D.C. with a Ph.D. in public policy. With 20 years of experience in public affairs, Hess has managed research and advocacy projects for prominent nonprofits in several fields, including social policy and civil rights. George McJimsey's portion of the panel will focus on "Harry Hopkins as an Instrument of State." McJimsey, professor emeritus of history at Iowa State University's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is a Hopkins scholar. His book on Hopkins, "Harry Hopkins: Ally of the Poor and Defender of Democracy," was published in 1987 by Harvard, and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.

On Nov. 29 at 7:30 p.m., also in Joe Rosenfield '25 Center, Room 101, June Hopkins, granddaughter of Harry Hopkins, will lecture on "Harry Hopkins: America's Champion in Depression and War." June Hopkins was working for Victims Services Agency, a non-profit in New York City, when she became interested in investigating the life and social work career of her grandfather, Harry Hopkins. Her book "Harry Hopkins: Sudden Hero, Brash Reformer" was published in 1999, followed by "Jewish First Wife, Divorced: The Correspondence of Ethel Gross and Harry Hopkins" in 2002. A member of the history faculty at Armstrong Atlantic State University since 1998, she says that her teaching and scholarship have been influenced by the important work her grandfather did during the Great Depression, especially in his role as President Roosevelt's New Deal relief administrator and his participation in the creation of the Social Security Act of 1935.

For more information, contact Sarah Purcell, purcelsj@grinnell.edu, 641-269-3091. Grinnell welcomes and encourages the participation of people with disabilities. Information on parking and accessibility is available on the college website. Accommodation requests may be made to Conference Operations at 641-269-3235 or calendar@grinnell.edu.

Harry Hopkins '12 with the 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt. Photo courtesy of Sarah Purcell